Interminable Love For You

The stars silently twinkled in the still night sky.

Euralia Ou's eyelids slowly fluttered open. "Are you awake?"

A low and deep voice sounded beside her ear. Her heart started to race in fear.

The bed she was sleeping on was different. 'W...where am I? Why am I not at home?'

Looking around, she saw a tall man sitting in the shadows not far away. In the darkness of the night, she could not see his face clearly. Slowly, Euralia Ou propped herself to a sitting position, keeping her eyes locked on the strange man.

It was so quiet in the room that she couldn't tell whether all of this was a dream or reality.

"Who are you?

Where am I?"

The man stood up slowly. His tall figure walked out of the shadow. As he passed by the window, the soft moonlight fell on him. A silver mask was on his face, making him look like ghost.

"Wait! Don't come any closer..." Euralia Ou cried out as she moved farther away from him.

But the man kept moving towards her, his silver mask reflecting the cold light. Slowly, he approached her with an outstretched arm, a threatening atmosphere surrounding his presence.

"Don't be afraid..."

the man hushed. With a gentle hand, he stroked her hair. "I won't hurt you, as long as you do what I say." Euralia Ou flinched.

Although his voice was as soft as butter, Euralia Ou couldn't help but tremble.

She looked away, not daring to look into the eyes of the man behind the mask. With tears in her eyes, she looked around to see if there was a way for her to escape.

Little by little, her eyes adapted to the dim light. To her surprise, she was not in a bedroom. It seemed to be a broken warehouse. Abandoned machineries were scattered all around, thick with dust.

'I've been kidnapped!'

Euralia Ou thought. Her heart was beating so loudly that she could hear it in her ear. She looked over to the man, who now became even more terrifying.

"Why? Why did you kidnap me?" Euralia Ou stammered. With all her might, she tried to keep calm and not move an inch for fear of displeasing this mysterious man. "What do you want? Money?"

The man let out a light laugh, which sounded particularly broken and sad in the quiet darkness. "What do you think I want?"

He sighed as his slender fingers slid from the top of her hair and down to her chin, his fingertips as cold ice.

Trembling, Euralia Ou moved backwards. "Don't touch me!" she shouted at him.

The warehouse looked like it was run down -- there were many cracks and holes on the roof and on the walls. A gust of cold wind blew through her clothes, sending a shiver up and down her entire body.

The man next to her suddenly became a little irritable. "Stop crying!" he said as he grabbed her shoulders.

It was not until now that Euralia Ou realized that tears had quietly slipped from the corners of her eyes.

"Can you please just let me go?" she asked him in a trembling voice, with her eyes filled with pleading tears. "My brother can get you anything you want as a 'thank you' just for letting me go, I promise. He loves me very much, as long as you..."

"I don't need anyone to thank me," he interrupted in a low voice, the corners of his mouth turning up to a slight smile. "I already have what I want -- you." His voice was low and his thin lips were so close to her ear.

'What... what did he say? He wants me?' Euralia Ou thought, her eyes widening in shock.

"Cancel the wedding tomorrow," the man continued.

"Why? What does my wedding have to do with any of this?" Euralia Ou asked, feeling utterly dismayed.

"You don't need to know that." The man shook his head. "As long as you are willing to cancel the wedding, I will send you back right away, otherwise..."

He took a step closer to Euralia Ou, his face just inches away from hers. "I have a variety of ways to prevent the wedding from going on. For example, I can turn you into my woman," he threatened in a brash tone.

Out of anger, Euralia Ou quickly reached out to pull of his mask. But the man was much quicker, and tightly caught her wrist in his hand.

"Who the hell are you?! Just be a man and show yourself!" There was so much anger in her heart right now that she completely forgot about the possible danger she was in. "You're so boldly threatening me like this despite the fact that you're hiding behind a mask! What can a man like you do?" Euralia Ou snapped back at him.

The man's eyes darkened, and his grip on Euralia's wrist got tighter.

"You will soon know what I am capable of."

Swallowing her fear, Euralia decided it was better to act brave rather than accept defeat. "Listen here. I don't know how you dragged me to here, but I'm sure that brother must be looking for me now. Are you sure you want to go against him?"

The man still had his grip on her wrist, but it loosened the slightest bit.

Thinking that he was afraid, Euralia suddenly became more confident. "Let go of me now, and this will all be over. Otherwise, my brother will surely have you killed."

As she spoke of her brother, Bill Ou, her eyes sparkled with pride.

With a meaningful smile, the man chuckled softly. "It sounds that he is really something," he said, letting go of her wrist.

Erualia raised her chin, feeling certain of herself now. "Of course he is!"

There was an arrogance in her face and tone when she talked about Bill Ou. However, she made sure to keep her guard up, and her eyes were still full of tears.

"Hmm... then why hasn't he come to save you yet?" the man asked.

"I..." Euralia stammered, "He must be on his way here. I'm sure he'll be here soon!" Euralia still pretended to be tough with her words, but in fact, there was already some doubt in her heart. There was no reassurance as to what would happen next, and the willpower she had earlier weakened before she knew it.

"Oh, is that so?" The man's low laughter rang in her ears. "Then, we shall wait and see."

With one swift movement, he pushed her back onto the bed and restrained her with his body. "For the meantime, you have to do what I ask you to do. Otherwise, you might no longer be the same person you were once your brother comes to save you."

"What do you mean?" she nervously asked, her heart clenching in her chest.

"Do you really not understand?" The man put his head close to her ear, his breath grazing her skin. "You'll figure it out soon enough."

Euralia felt a shiver run down her spine at the man's whispered threat.

"You... You said you wouldn't hurt me!" Euralia shouted. New, fearful tears filled her eyes.

The man chuckled again. "Didn't your precious brother teach you that you should never believe a man's words? Especially when in bed."

He smiled, "Not to mention, I'm a very bad person.."

All of a sudden, Euralia trembled like an electric shock had jolted through her. "Don't touch me! Get away..." she pleaded, trying to get out of his grasp.

"Did I seem like such a good guy for you to think that I wouldn't do anything to you?"

the man said mockingly, his voice suddenly as cold as ice. "Tell me you're willing to cancel the wedding. Otherwise... " He stared at her sharply, and his tone was full of undeniable authority.

Biting her lip, Euralia didn't answer. With a sneer, the man reached down and pulled back the blanket on top of her.

"No!"

Euralia screamed out. Thinking out of instinct, a newfound strength surged through her body and she was able to free her hand. With her nails bared, she scratched him right on his neck.

The man didn't dodge nor did he flinch. There were now scars across his collarbone.

"Stop this! I've told you before to stop threatening me like this! John and I love each other. We will never sacrifice what we have for the sake of an evil person like you!" Euralia spat out.

His eyes darkened and his body tensed, creating a fearful aura around him that could freeze anything in his sight.

"Truly in love?" He sneered, "So, you'd rather go through hell than leave that man?"

His words were so painful for Euralia. 'Was there really no other way?'

She tried to turn over and struggled, trying to push the man away. But he was much too strong, and her efforts were futile.

He lifted her head with a sneer, looking at her tearful little face. "It seems that you've really been well protected all these years. You don't even have the ability to properly react to danger."

Before Euralia could say anything more, the man leaned down and kissed her.

The man's kiss was so deep and passionate that Euralia couldn't breathe. She felt like she had been thrown into a sea, floating and sinking in the salty water. For a moment, her chest felt so heavy and her brain was starting to buzz.

She sobbed and struggled.

The man's strength seemed to amount to that of a dozen men. No matter how she struggled, it was useless.

Just then, the man pulled back. "Let go! Let go of me!"

At the moment, Euralia was gasping hard. Tears ran down the corners of her eyes, filling her small face.

The man acted as if he hadn't heard her.

Her cries echoed in the dark warehouse. Even in the dim light, it could be easily seen that her body and her pale face was in a distraught mess.

"Please, don't..."

For a while, it looked as if Euralia barely had any strength in her anymore. She squirmed on the bed under his grip, making her all the more alluring.

Gasping, she held the man's shoulders tightly with her hands, her nails penetrating into his skin. There was a wave of pain inside him which was mixed with an unexplainable excitement.

The man's eyes looked at her darkly, and his hand gripped her arm tighter.

His cold fingertips seemed to have an unusual effect on her, and she couldn't help but feel even more torn about what she was feeling right now. In her heart, however, she really didn't want any of this to happen.

'My wedding's tomorrow... I can't... I can't lose my virginity now!'

She struggled harder and bit down hard on her lower lip. Tiny beads of blood seeped out.

"You..."

Looking at her tearful eyes, filled with panic and desperation, the man gradually stopped his previously unyielding movements.

"I'm sorry..."

There was a complicated look on his face. The desire in his eyes was gradually fading away. Slowly, he bent down and gently kissed the blood at the corner of her mouth.

Euralia still had tears in her eyes. Her lips were red and swollen against her pale face.

Ever since she was a child, Bill had taken care of her as if she was a priceless treasure. She had never been exposed to any hardships all of her life.

In her eyes, she saw and believed that the whole world was inherently good and kind. When she had nearly died, Bill had unconditionally spoiled her and allowed her to grow up a carefree life.

The man took a deep breath and suppressed the lingering anger he still had. "You shouldn't have pissed me off," he said with forbearance.

"No, I didn't... I didn't try to.. I... " sobbed Euralia.

The man sighed helplessly and forced a bitter smile. "Forget it."

"Will you let me go now?" There was a flash of hope in her eyes that quickly disappeared.

"Let you go?" The man smiled and kissed her lips again. He whispered in her ear, his voice low like a purr, "You are my woman now. Today, tomorrow, forever. I won't let you marry anyone else."

After he finished speaking, he took out a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully wiped away the tears on her face.

His action was so gentle that he looked like a thoughtful lover, which made Euralia speechless for a while.

"Go to sleep, my sweetheart. You will be home when you wake up." He lowered his head and kissed her on the forehead.

A strange fragrance came to her nose, and then her brain went blank all of a sudden. With all her might, she tried to stay awake, but she uncontrollably started to drift away into darkness...

"Wake up, Euralia!"

A familiar voice rang in her ear. The voice seemed to come from somewhere far away, like a dream.

Struggling to open her eyes, Euralia felt dizzy. It took her a long time before she finally awoke.

"Miss Euralia! Great, you're finally awake!" Terri Chen exclaimed happily.

With her eyes wide open, she clutched the blanket tightly "Where am I?" she asked in a tense and frightened voice. Her mind was still dwelling in the dark and cold abandoned warehouse.